1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical devices and, more specifically, the present invention relates to capacitive structures usable in optical devices.
2. Background Information
The need for fast and efficient optical switches is increasing as Internet data traffic growth rate is overtaking voice traffic pushing the need for optical communications. Three commonly found types of optical switches are mechanical switching devices, thermal switching devices and electro-optic switching devices.
Mechanical switching devices generally involve physical components that are placed in the optical paths between optical fibers. These components are moved to cause switching action. Micro-electronic mechanical systems (MEMS) have recently been used for miniature mechanical switches. MEMS are popular because they are silicon based and are processed using somewhat conventional silicon processing technologies. However, since MEMS technology generally rely upon the actual mechanical movement of physical parts or components, MEMS are generally limited to slower speed optical applications, such as for example applications having response times on the order of milliseconds.
Thermal switching devices rely on a temperature-induced change of the refractive index to switch the light. This approach is popular because almost all materials exhibit this behavior. The disadvantage for them is the time it takes to warm and cool the devices to get them to switch. Typical times are on the order of milliseconds.
In electro-optic switching devices, voltages are applied to selected parts of a device to create electric fields within the device. The electric fields change the optical properties of selected materials within the device and the electro-optic effect results in switching action. Electro-optic devices typically utilize electro-optical materials that combine optical transparency with voltage-variable optical behavior. One typical type of single crystal electro-optical material used in electro-optic switching devices is lithium niobate (LiNbO3).
Although the switching speeds of these types of devices are very fast, for example on the order of nanoseconds, one disadvantage with present day electro-optic switching devices is that these devices generally require relatively high voltages in order to switch optical beams. Consequently, the external circuits utilized to control present day electro-optical switches are usually specially fabricated to generate the high voltages and suffer from large amounts of power consumption. In addition, integration of these external high voltage control circuits with present day electro-optical switches is becoming an increasingly challenging task as device dimensions continue to scale down and circuit densities continue to increase.